Mahanoy City Firemen Plan Parade For May 31 5 Divisions Will March

A five-division parade May 31 will kick off the centennial of the Washington Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1, Mahanoy City.

Nelson G. Schuetrum, publicity chairman, said the 1 p.m. parade will mark the formation and incorporation of the company on March 29, 1886.

The parade will feature high school bands, drum and bugle corps, and senior bands as well as social, civic and military organizations. Also included will be various fire and rescue units from in and out of Schuylkill County. A total of 50 trophies will be awarded at 6 p.m., after the parade.

Groups or organizations not already registered for the parade may contact William Rhoades at (717) 773-1008, or John Sluzevich, (717) 773-3682. Inquiries may also be made by telephoning the firehouse 7 to 10 p.m. at (717) 773-0301.

The fire company has other events scheduled in the coming weeks. A children's swim party will be held Sunday at the Mahanoy Area High School pool and will be free to all children of company or social club members.

A memorial service will be held10 a.m. May 25 in Christ Lutheran Church, Mahanoy City, honoring deceased members of the company.

June 3 has been designated as youth night and June 4 as firefighter's night.

Charles Henry, Pennsylvania state fire commissioner, will be the speaker at a June 7 dinner in St. Mary's Center, in Mahanoy City. Music will be provided by the Jordan Brothers Orchestra from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Company and social club members and widows of company members attending the program will be given a memento commemorating the event.

The need for a ladder company in Mahanoy City became apparent in February 1886, when firemen had to borrow the ladder of William H. Behney, a painter, to reach an upper story during a fire in the borough's Second Ward.

Shortly after, Behney, Charles H.D. Hand, Joseph Spurr, John A. Lathan and E.E. Kuder met and put into motion plans resulting in the company's organization in the former Christian Budwash Hotel. Attorney T.H.B. Lyon was retained to obtain a charter, a uniform was adopted and a picnic was held at Pleasant Hill to pay for the uniforms.

Hand-drawn apparatus was the first piece of equipment purchased from the company's treasury. The company later bought horses and horse-drawn equipment, and a pumping engine was purchased later. All of the equipment was bought without outside aid.

In 1924, the horse-drawn equipment was motorized at company expense. In 1926, the company purchased a Buffalo 500-gallon pumper mounted on a Larabee chassis. The truck was later sold and is still owned and maintained by Joseph Recla of Oneida, Schuylkill County.

In 1936, the borough purchased a Peter Pirsch 65-foot, fully hydraulic aerial ladder truck. The truck was the first of its kind in the state. It was replaced by a 1973 American LaFrance 100-foot Ladder Chief aerial truck. The borough also purchased the American LaFrance truck, but in the same year, the company purchased a 1973 GMC equipment van.

In 1984, the borough contracted with American LaFrance to recondition the ladder truck, and last year, the company conducted fund-raising activities to equip the aerial truck with pre-piped breathing air to enable a fireman at the top of the ladder to breathe pure air while fighting a smoky fire.

The 3,600-pounds-per-square-inch cylinder provides about fours hours of breathing air in adverse conditions for the fireman operating the water pipe at the top of the ladder.

Firemen are trained at a company and Schuylkill County fire schools, and state-certified firefighting and ladder courses. The company has three Emergency Medical Technicians.